Memoirs of Margaret Jane Blake of Baltimore, Md., and selections in prose and verse

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

Chaj). - CopTOglrt No,. ___.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

-nm

memoirs

OF

maraaret Jane Blake

OF

Baintnore, ma.,

AND

Selections in Prose ana Uerse

BY

Sarab R. Umm^

^\

Copyright, 1897 ^,

By Sarah R. Lkvering. \Ax*

Oiu

tl^\ -..^

ft^

Press of Innes & Son
200 South 10th Street, Philadelphia

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\ii

TLo m^ /IDotber

of blesset) memory

IS this little volume Inscribe^^

PREFACE

nPHE negro enslaved of yore is now a free man,
■■■ and as a citizen of an enlightened nation is
fully entitled to an education to enable him to
enjoy the blessings of freedom.

The Presbytery of Baltimore hold in possession
the deed for a pretty little farm located in Harford
county, Marj^and, on the Little Gunpowder River.
It is hilly ground, far above the river, the foot of the
hills onty washed by the stream. It is impossible
for the water to rise high enough to damage crops or
buildings on the land. The land is good, with abun-
dant sweet, cold spring water to be had in all seasons ;
the spring has never been known to fail. One farmer
occupied the premises twelve years and had a large
family of children who were the healthiest of the
healthy in all the region around. The proceeds from
the sale of this booklet will be appropriated to the
improvement of '' Dingley Dell," the farm upon
which the Presbytery of Baltimore proposes to estab-
lish a manual labor school for the benefit of the

VI PREFACE

Afro -American citizens, as they prefer being called.
Said school is to be established as soon as there are
funds enough to erect suitable buildings. A large
sum of money will be required to establish this
enterprise, and the sooner the money is collected the
sooner it will be an accomplished fact. Now, if every
Afro-American will pay the price of this Httle book
a good sum will be reahzed, and perhaps some other
friend or friends of education may be moved to write
another book for the same cause and help along the
much-desired object. The Presbytery will be encour-
aged to move forward, to the joy of all who feel any
interest in this matter.

Some may wish to know why the selection of
pieces was added to the memoir of Margaret Jane
Blake. All of them were written by persons with
whom she was acquainted and some were composed
on persons in whom she felt great interest. The
"Unwelcome Guest" is a partial description of a
beautiful house in which she served as a house-
maid. A careful examination of the lines called
'' The Bride " will show the maiden name of the lady
in whose service she died.

The Authoress.

MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

A MEMOIR.
BY SARAH R. LEVERING.

" A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches."— Froreris.

T^HE subject of this memoir, though born a slave,
^ was of illustrious parentage, inasmuch as her
father and mother were virtuous and patriotic,
this combination having always been esteemed the
foundation of noble character. Her father. Perry
Blake, was a marine in the United States navy, and
Commodore Porter himself informed my father that
Perry Blake fought bravely under his command. He
was a powerfully built man, and no doubt he rendered
wilHng and efficient service to his country in the War
of i8 12-15 against Great Britain. Perry Blake was
married to Chariotte, a slave belonging to my father.
Chariotte was as patriotic as her free husband, and
took long walks to bear provisions to the young men
of her master's household who were under arms dur-
ing the attack of the British on the city of Baltimore.
Her unremitting and cheerful service during this anx-

(7)

8 MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

ious time in comforting the soldiers with home news
and dainties won the gratitude of her master, Mr.
Jesse Levering, and he manumitted Charlotte, thus
making her equal to her husband. But it was strange
that she looked back to her old home with infinite
longing and desired to return to her bonds. This
could not be granted her, and, faihng in that petition,
she begged that none of her children should be set
free. That was agreed upon, and during my parents'
lifetime the children of these free parents remained
slaves. Perry and Charlotte Blake had several chil-
dren. Margaret Jane was born in 1 8 1 1 , in my father's
house on Lombard street, in the city of Baltimore,
Maryland, and throve with the children of the family
until the measles broke out among the young folks,
and several of them were left in a weak condition after
the scourge had passed through the household. Mar-
garet was one of the weaklings, and was indulged
over-much, perhaps, and became somewhat self-willed,
but only to an amusing degree. One day she was
seated on the front steps, getting the fresh air, when
a woman belonging to the neighborhood addressed
her with numerous questions about the family and as
to the treatment she received from her mistress- I

MARGARET JANE BLAKE. 9

presume the strange voice among the childish group
drew my mother to the window over their heads in
time to witness the interview. Margy hstened pa-
tiently and politely to all the lady had to say, then
lifting one hand to an ear she replied : '' Woman, all
you have said goes in at this ear, and goes out at the
other one." After such a rebuke the gossiper did
not waste further time at that portal. Many a hearty
laugh has been enjoyed at the child's answer to her
mischievous interrogator. Time passed on. Margaret
grew to be a large girl, and I was born in 1825, and
when the baby was big enough it fell largely to Mar-
garet's charge. Well do I remember one delightful
race I enjoyed in Margy 's arms, though only four
years old at the time. It was in 1828, on the 4th of
July. The corner-stone of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad was to be laid — the pioneer railroad of the
country ! Being a great enterprise, it was duly cele-
brated with distinguished guests to participate in the
ceremonies. The venerable Charles Carroll, of Car-
roUton, aged ninety-one years, was to lay the corner-
stone with a silver trowel. A grand procession, with
flags flying and floats displaying various trades, all
richly adorned, and the whole animated by martial

lO MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

music, went up Baltimore street. The servant girls
from our neighborhood went with the host of sight-
seers, taking along with them the children under their
care, I among them. When our vantage ground was
gained, corner of Eutaw street, Margy lifted me up
in her arms to behold what has never faded from my
memory — the magnificent civic demonstration in
honor of the first railroad that was built on the West-
ern Continent. The printing-press float pleased me
best of all, with its attendant imps dressed as mercu-
ries, who scattered sheets that were being printed as
the procession moved along. The last division passed,
the blare of the trumpets grew faint from a distance.
Then the girls turned down Eutaw street, full of fun,
and singing a popular song of the day, ** The Blue
Bonnets are over the Border," "■ Hurrah for the Bon-
nets of Blue," raced to the top of their speed back
home. It was a ride full of peril as well as fun, but
Margy was sure-footed and she landed me on terra
firma unharmed. She loved children, and all children
that ever were placed under her care loved her. Our
family grew larger and we moved into a larger house,
Margy going along with us. Charlotte was off with
her husband, and Margy was installed as housemaid.

MARGARET JANE BLAKE. II

One day she was occupied near the front door in some
sort of cleaning, when a httle boy drew her attention.
He was trying to reach the bell-knob, but, failing in
his efforts, Margy hastened to his assistance. Alas !
for her kind heart caused her to move too quickly
from her elevated position. She fell and was badly
injured. The injury sustained by her on this occasion
caused an internal tumor from which she suffered
great pain at intervals during the rest of her life.

Another servant had been added to the household
by purchase. My father attended a sale of household
goods and chattels ; a sickly-looking girl, emaciated
to a painful degree to sensitive perceptions, moved his
compassion, and Ann Button was sent home to my
mother's fostering care.

Ann's first act on reaching her new home was to
attack the slop barrel, from which she extracted food
to comfort her famished system.

Margy and Ann never becaxne w^xy warm friends,
although associated in the same family for so many
years. According to the rules of the peculiar insti-
tution, the bought slave was always looked down
upon by those *' to the manner born." And Margy
was a dark woman, Ann of mixed blood ; the mixture

12 MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

she claimed to have was Indian ; the unmixed nature
held herself purer than the mongrel. Ann was a
woman of fashion, as far as she possibly could go ;
Margy was plain in her tastes and always clean and
neat in her attire. Thus there were three good and
sufficient reasons, according to them, for their frequent
disagreements.

Both were good servants, well-mannered, industri-
ous, truthful, faithful in the discharge of every duty
in their sphere. Neither pampered the whims of the
children within the range of their influence, but were
quick to reprove whatever fault they deemed it proper
to correct, and the children knew it was right for them
to yield respectful attention without giving back any
impertinence when reproved. My mother of blessed
memory taught her children to request service of her
slaves, never to command or exact service from them.
'' If they are slaves," she would say, ''they are God's
creatures, and you must treat them politely."

Ann took the name of Duncan, in honor of the
Rev. John M. Duncan, a popular minister of Balti-
more in the days of which I write, and it being allow-
able for slaves to assume any name they preferred she
was known from thence always by that name while

MARGARET JANE BLAKE. I3

she lived with us. Both of these young women had
offers of marriage, but neither of them chose to marry,
because their children would be held in bondage, and
they were unwiUing to breed slaves for any master.
If all the bondwomen had been of the same mind,
how soon the institution would have vanished from
the earth, and all the misery belonging to it been
Hfted from the hearts of the holders and the slaves !
Glorious in the estimation of all true patriots is the
memory of Abraham Lincoln for having signed the
Emancipation Act. Our country was forced, while
colonies of Great Britain, to take the slaves brought
to our shores in Dutch ships by the mother country.
I have yet to learn that any of the unhappy creatures
were landed on British soil proper. Very many of
them tilled the soil and picked the cotton and gathered
the coffee berries on the West India islands under
British rule, and terribly they suffered on the island
of Jamaica, notably not many years ago by a general
massacre, reminding the reader of history of the mas-
sacre of the Helots in Greece while Greece was still
a heathen country. But Great Britain had the grace
to investigate and condemn the massacre in Jamaica,
while no voice ever was raised in censure of the flow

14 MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

of blood that stained the soil of classic Greece that I
ever read of. There the master had the life and death
of his slave under absolute control. Slavery, as we
knew it here, was a mitigated evil, really more harm-
ful to the masters and their families than to the slaves,
and now that it is banished from our soil, even the
heaviest owners are prepared to say it is a good rid-
dance.

After a few years, death and reverse of fortune
caused changes in our family which were displeasing
to Margaret, and she was allowed to choose a home
for herself, and the wages paid for her services went
to pay for her clothes and her physician's bills. She
had much suffering from the tumor and often was
obliged to return to her old home for rest and to be
nursed back to ordinary health. The first place where
she hired was in the family of Mr. J. B,, and her record
there was one of obedience and faithfulness. She
claimed some indulgence and it was granted her, for
they knew she had been allowed many privileges.
The second place where she hired was in the family
of Mr. H. G. Here, too, she claimed her privileges,
and they were granted her, for she was liked and the
family desired to retain her. During this time with

MARGARET JANE BLAKE. 1 5

Mrs. G., Blake was much annoyed by the abolition-
ists. She complained very much of them. They
tormented her. She would say : "I want my free-
dom, but I do not want to steal it." Mrs. G. went
one summer to the North to visit her husband's rela-
tives and gained the consent of Margaret and her
mistress that she could attend her as lady's maid.
Mother consented to the trip being taken, hoping the
change of scene and climate might benefit Margaret's
health, knowing that the moment she set foot on that
soil she was free, and if she pleased to do so she
might stay there. But Margaret was of a different
mind. Upon the arrival of the party in the city of
New York lodgings were taken in a hotel, and the
Irish waiters belonging to the establishment immedi-
ately bothered the lady's maid with attentions, inviting
her to walk out with them to view the city. Icily she
repelled them. '' No," she replied, *' I will not walk
out with you in the streets of New York. I shall not
do in New York what I would be ashamed to do in
Baltimore. Colored women are disgraced in Balti-
more if they are seen in the company of white men
on the streets." '' Are you free ? " asked the waiters.
" I am as free as you are," she rejoined ; '* I come

1 6 MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

and go as I please." Thus the free slave rebuffed
her white suitors. She was afraid of them.

When night came on she begged Mrs. G. to have
a bed laid on her bedroom floor, that she might be
safe from the impudent Irish waiters. She was afraid
they might steal her off and sell her to Georgia. That
arrangement was made to Blake's satisfaction. She
was safe from the much-dreaded Irish waiters. The
party she was traveling with proceeded on their way
and soon reached one of the New England States to
spend the summer among relatives who were perma-
nent residents there.

The pleasant visit ended, and Mrs. G. prepared to
turn Southward. And Margaret? How was it with
her? She, too, was ready to return to Baltimore.
The free slave ? Yes ; the free slave returned to face
her mistress and her young ladies, not ashamed to
show her face to her people !

Ann Button, or Duncan, as she preferred to be
called, was of a different mind. One day she informed
her mistress that she was desirous of attending a
funeral to take place that afternoon. Permiission was
given her to attend the funeral, and she was much
helped in her work that she might be there in proper

MARGARET JANE BLAKE. 1 7

time. When she was ready to leave the house it was
noticed that she wore a wadded merino cloak, a long
cloak with a large cape to it. Her mistress said to
her : ''Ann, why do you wear that heavy cloak this
warm afternoon ? " " Oh ! " she repHed, '' the even-
ings are cool, and I shall need it before I get back."

So she departed. Night fell, and Ann still out !
The family became anxious about her and feared she
might be ill-treated by rough crowds on the streets.
It was the night of the day of General William H.
Harrison's election to the Presidency, and much ex-
citement prevailed. Wait ! wait ! and no Ann Dun-
can in sight yet ! At last it occurred to one of the
family, in consideration of the strange freak of the
donning of her heavy cloak, to go to her room and
examine her bureau. Her room was looked over and
not a garment was to be seen that belonged to her.
All gone ! We never saw her more. It was a clev-
erly-managed escape.

The election day was chosen by a large party of
fugitives to make for Canada.

Margaret often told us of Ann's movements. She
married up there, and, after many years, desired to
return to her former owners, but we were not wiUing

1 8 MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

to receive her. She had to abide by her choice. To
Ann's credit it must be said she took nothing away
with her but what belonged to her. She had a good
supply of clothes for the approaching winter, and a
sheet from her bed (one was missed) must have been
used to tie her garments in and then dropped from
her window to the yard below to be carried off for her
to the place of departure.

Not long after this occurrence we left Baltimore
and went to EUicotts Mills, ten miles from the city.
Blake did not wish to leave Baltimore and was allowed
to remain there. From that time she went and came
as suited her, and never was with us but as an invalid
to be nursed or as a visitor to be entertained. It was
concluded after we moved to Harford county, Md.,
to allow Blake to buy herself. The family with whom
she hired named the price, and she was granted her
wages to pay for herself. The price agreed upon was
not large, and before Blake was old she had her free
papers. It was a happy day for me when I accom-
panied my dear nurse to Bel-air to obtain her free
papers. Three of us went with her, and a joyous
party it was — glad in her happiness.

After the slaveholders' rebellion she showed me

MARGARET JANE BLAKE. 1 9

her free papers ; she was spending the summer with
us in Harford county, Md., while her employers were
in Europe, and had brought her papers with her.

*' Oh ! " she said, '' there was not a drop of blood
shed for my freedom." It gave her the utmost satis-
faction to consider that she was free before that war.
She inquired if it was necessary for her to keep the
free papers. I told her it was not necessary, but she
had better keep them ; it might be pleasant to look
at her papers.

The last change Blake made in service was to enter
the family of Mr. Walter B. B. She remained in that
family many years, helping Mrs. B, to rear her chil-
dren from their infancy. Among them she was called
Mammy Blake, and is never spoken of except as
Mammy Blake.

Baby Eleanor grew to womanhood, was wooed and
won to wifehood, and, loving old Mammy Blake, and
devotedly loved by her in return, she attended her
young lady up to the pulpit railing where the gallant
groom waited for his promised bride, in Brown Memo-
rial Church. To see the gayly turbaned negress bear-
ing the wraps of the dainty bride was a rare sight as
she entered the church, dispensing odors from the

20 MARGARET JANE BLAKE.

orange blossoms that adorned her spotless bridal
robes, as leaning on her father's arm he led her up
the aisle to bestow her upon Mr. McC, of Chicago,
Mammy Blake bringing up the rear of the bridal pro-
cession. It was the crowning indulgence of the life
of the affectionate servant.

After Mrs. McC. was established in Chicago
Mammy Blake was taken out there to help her to
raise the infants her home was blessed with.

While Blake was still living with Mrs. Walter B. B.,
her little son Walter was present when a little girl
from the North was visiting them, and was kissed by
Mammy Blake. The little girl was terrified, and im-
mediately wiped off the kiss, saying she did not want
to be made black, like her. The little Walter resented
the indignity done to his dear old mammy, and threw
his arms around her neck, kissing her fondly, exclaim-
ing : " My old mammy will never make anybody
black."

In the winter of 1879 Mrs. McC. came on from
Chicago to Baltimore with her infant daughter, Mary
G. McC, and her nurse. Mammy Blake, to spend the
Christmas holidays with her mother's family.

In a letter to me Mrs. McC. says : " I brought her

MARGARET JANE BLAKE. 21

from Chicago for the Christmas holidays, and she took
cold soon after we reached Baltimore, which devel-
oped into erysipelas, and I was obliged to return to
Chicago without her, with the understanding that she
would follow as soon as she was well enough. She
grew worse, and because mother was very ill at the
time and worried very much over her, father and the
doctor thought it best for her to go to the hospital
(Baltimore Infirmary), where she died March lo,
1880. She was buried in Laurel Cemetery, and I
have just now ordered a stone with her name on it
and the date of her birth, if you know it. Mother
wants on it, ' Faithful unto Death.' "

No word more fitting to be placed on her tomb-
stone. Fidehty was the keynote of her life. She
served her earthly masters well, and when her heart
was turned by the grace of God to the Lord Jesus
Christ she held her faith to the end, in childlike sim-
plicity, growing more and more like her Divine Mas-
ter until the close of her life, and to all who were
acquainted with her there is an assurance given that
she has realized the promise of, " Be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

S. R. L.

MORNING PRAYER.

^Designed for young children, as a companion to the evening prayer
of " Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep."]

Now I wake to see the light,
I pray the Lord who gives me sight
To keep me through the Hve-long day,
And help me put all sin away.

S. R. L.

(22)

HAPPINESS.

S. R. L.

" Where grows ? where grows it not ? if vain our toil
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil ;
Fixed to no spot is happiness sincere ;
'Tis nowhere to be found, or everywhere."

THE universal desire for happiness is a proof that all
were created to be happy ; but few with sincer-
ity can declare themselves as happy people, and
if the acknowledgment is made it is accompanied with
a sigh for some unattained good. When Adam, our
great federal head, made in the image of his Creator,
was placed in Eden, he was perfectly happy, but with
his innocence his happiness fled, and we his children
inherit misery from our great progenitor, and miser-
able we remain until restored to purity by the second
Adam. None need hope for other than a fitful, fleet-
ing joy before he yields his heart to heavenly influ-
ences ; not until then can he expect to have a solid,,
lasting joy, a continued happiness that will flow on
like a mighty river, deepening as it flows to the end

(23)

24 HAPPINESS.

of life. Sin is the great cause of misery ; but many
fail of finding happiness, even after the oppressive
burden of sin is removed, because they are not con-
tent to find it in small things, but are continually look-
ing for great occasions that never come. To the great
majority of the human race it is a negative rather than
a positive state, and so some are happy but do not
know it. Each individual may increase his stock of
happiness by cultivating the soil of the heart a little
deeper — in forgetting self and remembering his com-
panions on the road of life a little more than is usually
the case. By a pleasant word to the depressed, a
kindly act to the necessitous, giving sympathy to the
afflicted, and smiles to the prosperous, our interest is
made known to our fellow-voyagers and we are ulti-
mately gainers by a reflex happiness in witnessing the
pleasure we give to others by our ministrations. Edu-
cation is the most fruitful source of happiness, consid-
ered apart from religion ; it subdues what is gross in
our nature, elevates our tastes and prepares us for a
full enjoyment of the beauties of nature, which are so
lavishly spread over the broad earth for the joy of all.
The poor as well as the rich man, the invalid and
those who are in robust health, can alike study the

HAPPINESS. 25

varying landscape, the cloud-capped mountain with
its leaping cascades, and the magnificent arch of
heaven with its midnight stars, or gorgeous canopy of
clouds at sunset. Every child should have its atten-
tion directed to objects of beauty in nature at an early
period, especially to flowers, trees and insects, which
are so abundant everywhere. The habit of noticing
small things will grow as years increase and will be
a life-long benefit, giving a love for Nature and yield-
ing a pleasure that calls for no repentance and that
necessarily leads the mind from Nature up to Nature's
God.

AURORA BOREALIS OF APRIL i^, 1869.

SEEN BY S. R. L.

THIS latitude (Harford county, Maryland) was
favored with an Aurora of unusual magnifi-
cence. It brought vividly to mind the Es-
quimaux name for this celestial phenomenon, '' The
dance of the Spirits." I shall endeavor to depict
in words a scene which I hope to retain in
*' memory's halls" to the latest day of my life,
as it will be to me ''a joy forever." The hght
was noticed at sunset, and as the shades of even-
ing fell it took the distinct form of the Aurora Bore-
alis. A lovely arch of silvery rays formed close on
the line of the horizon. From this sprung other rays
higher up toward the zenith. About nine o'clock I
saw from the coruscations that something more brill-
iant yet might be expected and determined to watch
for it. At this time, detached from the double arch
and higher up, was a pecuhar figure in shape like an
immense boomerang. In a few minutes it had flashed
away, to reappear in other forms. After ten o'clock,

(26)

AURORA BOREALIS OF APRIL 1 5, 1 869. 2/

upon taking another observation, I found that the
arch had moved higher. It was now about forty-five
degrees from the horizon. At the east was a large
space of steady silver light, tinged with crimson. On
a line with this at the west was a similar field of
steady glowing silver light. From the edges of these
two fountains of light brilliant coruscations emanated,
and the whole northern heavens were gorgeously illu-
minated. All the coruscations were advancing by long
and rapid waves to the zenith, where were already to
be seen a great number of forms like angels' wings.
Gradually these flashed around and settled in clouds
as the center of a dark, vivid, immense crimson star,
from which extended in every direction long, brilliant,
silvery-white rays. Awe-struck, I stood gazing up
into the heavens, my heart being filled to its utmost
capacity with adoring love to the great Creator of
such ineffable beauty and gave utterance to a fervid
*' Glory to God ! " If an angel had darted down to
earth from the center of that resplendent star it would
have been just what I hoped for. But no angel de-
sceeded. It flashed away in long waves of silver, to
dance about in other shapes. At one period of great-
est activity I fancied a sound was produced from the

28 AURORA BOREALIS OF APRIL I 5, 1 869.

aurora of a slight crackling, scarcely discernible in the
still night air. After eleven o'clock, being fully satis-
fied, I re-entered the house in profound meditation as
to what must be the glories of our heavenly home, as
the earth is so full of such perfect beauty. I turned
to the Holy Book and read : *' And I saw no temple
therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
the temple of it. And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon to shine in it : for the Glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof"

-THIS DO YE AS OFT AS YE DRINK IT IN
REMEMBRANCE OF ME."

Not 'mid pleasure's thoughtless throng,

Not in halls of festive mirth,
Where witty jest and mellow song

Ring through the air, may I drink wine.

Not around the social board.

Where friend meets friend in happy mood,
And health to health is freely poured,

And laughter sounds, may I drink wine.

In the house of God, where waiting,
With the favored ones of Heaven

For the coming of the blessing
Of His sacred presence dear.

When a sense of sin oppresses,
And my heart with grief is bowed

For the cruel gibes and lashes
Which my Saviour meekly bore.

When I recollect the death-pang

Of the blessed Son of God,
Who on the cruel cross did hang.

Only then must I drink wine.

S. R. L.

(29)

A HAPPY LIFE.

[Inscribed to Mrs. W. B. B.]

Gracefully thy girlhood glided
'Mid a most delightful home,

Where, by loving parents guided,
Thou and sisters fair didst roam.

When thy wedded troth was plighted
To a husband noble, fond.

All thy happy life was lighted
By the rosy nuptial bond.

Then were added sons and daughters.
And thy cup of bhss was full.

And thy loving heart ne'er falters
Till to God thou bringst them all.

In the mother's heart God wakened

Hopes for an eternal joy,
For the band of children wakened

All thy love without alloy.
(30)

A HAPPY LIFE.

Now thou standest by confession
With the saints of God arrayed,

In the garments of Salvation,

Washed in Jesus' precious blood.

May God's Holy Spirit guide thee

Into scenes divinely fair,
Where thy raptured soul may see

Joys that need not fear despair.

S. R. L.

THE UNWELCOME GUEST.

THERE is a feeling, an earnest desire, in every
human breast, to know more than is allowed
us weak mortals to know of the Mysteries
of the Spirit Land. To me there is an inex-
pressible charm in any story that savors of the
supernatural, and next to hearing about spiritual
manifestations to others has been a fervent wish to
be myself favored with the sight of a ghost. But
when mortals are favored by a visit from an in-
habitant of the Spirit Land terror is so immediately
the result as to prevent our growing any wiser than
we already are through the Scripture revelation per-
taining to eternity. After waiting long years to see
a ghost my unholy curiosity was gratified, and, hke
others on similar occasions, I also was too glad to see
the phantom depart to question him on the important
subjects of eternity, concerning eternal life, and mis-
ery. Not very many years ago my circle of friends
in a not distant city lost by death, after a hngering
illness, one of its most valued members, a man of

(32)

THE UNWELCOME GUEST. 33

great talents and kindly home virtues ; a lover of his
fireside, and perfectly devoted to those who shared it
with him. Feeling deeply the loss his family had
sustained, in the earnestness of my sympathy I made
them a visit of condolence, and, as was to be expected,
found the once-happy home shrouded in gloom.
Their place of residence was a chateau-hke building,
being several stories in height, each story containing
suites of apartments opening into each other and con-
nected by immense halls and dim corridors. Upon
the day of my arrival (the season was early spring,
the air being still keen with frost) we assembled at
four o'clock, the usual hour for dinner, in the large
dining-room, which was the last apartment in the
suite containing the elegant drawing-room and the
well-filled library. Opposite a door opening into the
library was one which led out into a corridor com-
municating with the kitchen, and through which the
servants were passing back and forth in arranging the
dinner upon the table. Two great windows lighted
this room on the east, and opposite them was a third
door which opened upon one of the grand lofty halls.
As we seated ourselves at table an unwonted silence
fell upon us. Wondering at this, and not caring to

34 THE UNWELCOME GUEST.

break the stillness, which continued after we were
seated, I ate the delicacies provided and glanced
around at the familiar adornments of the place. Each
article occupied the same position as upon the occa-
sion of my last visit under happier auspices. There
stood the massive mahogany sideboard with its wealth
of rich china and sparkling glass. The lovely marble
vases I had so often admired, as usual, graced the
mantelpiece, but upon a picture familiar enough in
other days my gaze dwelt the longest. It was a
picture illustrating that passage of Scripture history
which describes David as a minstrel youth excelling
upon the harp and called into the presence of the
lordly King Saul to charm away by his soothing
strains the evil spirit which tormented the king. The
figures in it were nearly of life size, and as the silence
around the table continued unbroken I enjoyed my
dinner, and as I did so still studied the picture.
There was the minstrel, clad in his simple garments,
with exquisite grace grasping the instrument from
which so much v/as expected. Michal, in all the
redundancy and fresh charm of early womanhood, is
endeavoring with all the soHcitude of a daughter de-
picted in her face to attract the attention of her father

THE UNWELCOME GUEST. 35

to his favorite harp ; but the stern old king, half
crouching in his royal robes upon his throne, has not
yet yielded to its sweet influence — the demon still
lashes his soul into frenzy, and was looking through
his lurid eyes directly into mine. Half frightened
already by the Satanic look out of Saul's eyes, hear-
ing the corridor door open, I gladly turned my atten-
tion to it, fully expecting to see a friendly, beaming
sable face, but, instead, beheld advancing directly to-
ward the table the whilom master of the house. His
formerly stately figure was now enlarged until it very
nearly reached the ceiling, which was sixteen or
eighteen feet high, and was clad in the moldy habili-
ments of the grave. His cold, piercing eyes were
fixed on mine, as in almost breathless amazement and
terror I watched his slow progress across the room.
Hastily, fearfully, I peered at each face around the
board. Every head was bent close over his or her
plate ; not a creature lifted a hand toward the once-
loved father and friend as he paced by each of us.
One daughter, trembling by my side, in a hoarse
whisper informed me it was always so : he made his
appearance in these horrid garments regularly every
day at that hour. Thus was the fearful silence ac

36 THE UNWELCOME GUEST.

counted for. The dread of the specter sealed their
lips, and hoping that I, not being a member of the
family, might not see the fearful vision, they did not
inform me of the unwelcome visitor ; but to see it was
also granted to me, and truly it may said one ghost
is enough to see in a lifetime. When the awful object
reached the hall-door he held it, half closed, in his
hand, the husband of one of his daughters inquired
in an exceedingly timid tone of voice : " Are you
coming back again ? " " No ! " shouted the ghost in
a voice of thunder, at the same time opening the door
wide and closing it after him with great violence, ad-
mitting a furious blast of icy cold wind which blew
over me with full force and startled me out of a deep
and awful dream. Oh ! the joy of waking to find
myself in my own snug chamber, in a retired farm-
house, in dear old Harford county, and not a visitor
in a magnificent chateau frequented by shadows from
the spirit land, and entirely satisfied to remain unen-
lightened as to the mysteries of the future state be-
yond the veil of Death.

IMPROMPTU.

[Naming a little couisin in Ohio.]

Eugenia Howard I select

Out of my teeming brain
By which to call our httle pet

From mischief, harm or rain.

When childhood's years have flown apace,

A merry maiden she,
Eugenia still will have a grace

With lover, maid and me.

My task is done ; I can no more
Than wish the child may seem

To father's pride and mother's love
A pearl of rarest gleam.

S. R. L.

(37)

THE BRIDE

[Blake waited on in Brown Memorial Churcli]

Ne'er saw I a blither maiden,

Ever smiling, ever gay,
Living thus with pleasure laden,

Living on from day to day.
In a whirl of sportive measure

Ever casting joy around.
Binding all our hearts at leisure.

Rifling us of senses sound.
On thy life may ne'er a shadow

Of affliction's presence drear
Kill thy liveliest hopes below.

Step thou on from sorrow clear.

S. R. L

(38)

SONG.

By R. E. H. Levering, Lancaster, Ohio

Gaze, dearest one, at evening time,

On brightest star above.
And know that in the female train

Thus shines the one I love !

Cull from the garden, love, its pride,

With perfum'd beauty rife,
And know that, like its charms, thou art

The sweetest flower of life !

Oh, take the gem from coronet,
More precious than the rest,

A type to be of virtue, thine.
Most pure in woman's breast !

Then take the glories of this world
And weigh thy charms with them ;

For thee I'd spurn them all away.
My flower, my star, my gem !
(39)

40 SONG.

Then to thy bosom bind with care
The fadeless evergreen,

To note that Hke thy spotless love
Unchangeable is mine !

ACROSTIC.

BY ORIGIXALIAD.
[Exhibiting the name of a little girl twelve years old.]

Should I extol thy wit refined,
A tribute pay to thy young mind,
Rob'd in the charms of native sense,
A promise of much excellence ?
Has not thy soul a brighter worth ?
Read in the book of God its birth !
E'en from His hand who framed the sky,
Brought forth the glorious orbs on high.
Enrich' d the earth with every good,
Crown' d all with Jesus' precious blood —
Consider from His hand it came,
A God forevermore the same !
Love, then, thy Father — be his child —
Enjoy His government so mild.
Vain is the wish elsewhere to find
Enlight'ning pleasure for the mind.
Rich is the joy he can bestow ;
In life, the antidote of woe !
No bliss does He refuse to give !
Go to thy God, and ever live !
(41)

LINES ON MISS C, OF BALTIMORE.

By R. E. H. Levering, Lancaster, Ohio.

Moved by some heathen God of ancient time,
Italia's sons performed their deeds sublime ;
Struck sweet their harp in praise of beauty rare,
Shrined in their hearts as loveHest of the fair !
Roused by an inspiration still more sweet,
A holier love a kindred love to meet,
Come forth the first affections of my heart.
Held in soft bonds by Love's superior art !
Each charm more lasting than mere Beauty's ray,
Loud speak her merit and extend her sway —
Golconda's gold in Hymen's path unsought,
Cold, calculating artifice is not
On her bright famiC a warning and a blot !
Long may enduring charms Hke Rachel's prove
Examples high to foster holiest love !

(42)

THE BUTTERFLY.

The lovely Sarah thought, quite sly,
To catch, one day, a butterfly ;
She threw her apron to enclose
The longed-for prize, as in a noose ;
The beauteous insect, watchful still.
The snare avoided with much skill.
And fled, a most rejoicing one,
With added wisdom snares to shun,
A lesson leaving for the maid
In noble practice just displayed.
To wit : that loveliest females are,
Like butterflies, exposed to snare.
And should combine, in things of love,
The wily serpent with the dove,
And, always watching, never find
In confidence misplaced or blind,
A loss which time cannot repair —
The loss of virtue in a snare !

Old Honesty, Lancaster, Ohio.
(43)

" LITTLE CHILDREN, LOVE ONE
ANOTHER."

A FEW words for the children who may read this
booklet, and my full intention will be carried out.
For ten years my life was among children as a
teacher in the public school near my home in Harford
county. I loved the children. My Master loved little
children and blessed them. As His disciple, it was my
duty to bring the children to Him that He might bless
them. I encouraged them to read and study the
Scriptures of truth that testified of His birth, His life
and His death. The result of this teaching will only
be known when the books recording the deeds done
in the body shall be opened and the dead, both small
and great, be judged. Now, all children who read
the Scriptures of truth know^ that there are two places
mentioned for the souls of human beings to live in —
Heaven for the obedient children of God, and Hell for
the disobedient children of God — and they know the
way to Heaven is Christ. Whoever accepts Him as
a personal Saviour is sure of reaching the abode of the

(44)

*' LITTLE CHILDREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER." 45

saints of the Lord, the Heaven of which we read in
the Holy Bible. There God dwells in hght and love
and joy abounds ; happiness pure and unalloyed is
found. No fancy can imagine the joys of Heaven.
It is vain to try ; we cannot do it. The disobedient
children of God, who love sin too well to reject it, and
who will not accept salvation as the gift of God
through the blood of Christ, will surely be cast into
Hell, to live forever and ever in the blackness of
darkness and where the devil and his evil angels are
never to be released from torment.

It is growing more and more the custom to draw
the attention of sinners away from dread of everlasting-
woe and fix their minds on the blessed abode of the
righteous ; but they must be told of the choice they
are called upon to make — to enter the service of the
God of love and light, or to serve the Prince of Dark-
ness ; to live for God and Heaven, or to continue in
sin and go to Hell. Some say God is too merciful to
punish his erring children. Rewards and punish-
ments regulate domestic life, the schools, common-
wealths, the whole world, all creation that we have any
knowledge of. You children know full well when
you break your mother's rules and do as you please

4-6 ''LITTLE CHILDREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER."

you have a dread of that slipper or that rod, or the
short rations of good things in her cupboard, or the
dark closet, where in extreme cases you may be shut
up until repentance and promises of good behavior
cause her to release you. Your mothers love you,
but if you do naughty deeds the mothers, because of
their love for you, must punish you to secure good
behavior. The earthly parent punishes only for a
short time. The Heavenly Father punishes evil-doers
with everlasting woe.

If you will turn to your Bibles and read the first
chapter of Proverbs you will find in the seventh verse
these words : " The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge : but fools despise wisdom and instruc-
tion y Now turn the leaves of the written Word of
God and find the fourteenth Psalm, and you will read
in the first verse : ''The fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God."

Now, children, I beg of you to fear the Lord. Do
not rank yourselves among the fools who say in their
hearts, "There is no God," or if they give any cre-
dence of His existence they will say we do not know
Him, we cannot understand Him. If He does exist,
He is too full of love to punish His poor, weak crea-

** LITTLE CHILDREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER." 4/

tures with everlasting destruction in Hell, if they do
not obey the Holy Scriptures and follow after the
blessed Lord Jesus who came to earth from Heaven
to seek and to save such poor weak sinners as we are.
The serpent who tempted Eve to disobey God while
she was innocent in the Garden of Eden and had no
fear of death except as she was warned not to eat of
the tree that was in the midst of the garden, " Lest
ye die," told her, '' Ye shall not surely die." So he
continues to contradict all the teaching of our Heav-
enly Father. In various ways he continues to lure us
into all sorts of evil doings, which will surely end in
the loss of the precious soul unless we repent and
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Avoid all places
where you will be sure to meet the enemy of souls.
The saloons, the gaming places (and they are many),
the theaters, so attractive from their music and danc-
ing and falseness in general, especially the false view
they give of amusement. The poison cup, the dagger
of the assassin, the death agonies of the victims of both
these fearful agents should never be shown to the
pubHc as a fund of amusement ; rather of horror, to
be kept away from all human beings. Such teachings
can only end in producing such fearful fruit as Wilkes

48 *' LITTLE CHILDREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER."

Booth bore when he ended the hfe of our venerated
President Abraham Llncohi. Many very good people
regard the theater as a place of innocent amusement.
But behind all the glare of the pretty lights and bright
scenes depicted on the stage, it is well known much
misery exists among the actors and actresses, many
sad histories of private life hidden behind the mimic
life portrayed upon the stage, painful mysteries and
secrets which can never be penetrated by mortal man,
and will only be revealed at the last day when the
three books will be opened on the throne of judg-
ment— the Lamb's Book of Life and the two books,
one of evil deeds and the other of good deeds, out of
which all of us are to be rewarded for good or evil,
as we have acted on this earth.

The End.

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